Publications
Zero fare, cleaner air? The causal effect of Luxembourg’s free public transportation policy on carbon emissions.
with Tobias Eibinger (Graz) working paper link
(Forthcoming in Environmental and Resource Economics)
Media coverage: Verdens Bedste Nyheder
Abstract
In March 2020, Luxembourg became the first country to make public transport free. We use this unique setting to evaluate the policy’s impact on transport emissions using a synthetic difference-in-differences framework. We use spatial emissions data to construct a panel of NUTS 2 regions in the EU from 2016–2022. We estimate an average reduction of 5.9% in road transport CO2 and overall road transport GHG emissions, with larger effects for NOx. These findings are robust against confounding shifts in working from home and commuting patterns, vehicle fleet electrification, and the localized effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Complementary event-study evidence from automatic traffic counters and air quality stations through 2023 corroborates our findings and suggests larger effects on weekendsRising waters, falling well-being: The effects of the 2013 East German flood on subjective well-being.
(Conditionally accepted at Environmental and Resource Economics)
with Katharina Kolb (Halle) and Christoph Wunder (Halle)
SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research, No. 1224, DIW Berlin (German Institute for Economic Research)
Abstract
This paper employs a panel event study design to examine the causal effects of the 2013 flood disaster in East Germany on subjective well-being. We merge geo-spatial flood data with longitudinal data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) to identify individuals in affected municipalities. Our results show that those affected by the flood report a significant life satisfaction drop of 0.17 points on an 11-point scale, which is equivalent to a 2.5% fall from pre-flood levels, in the year after the flood. The effect is more severe in peripheral areas than in central areas, and for low-income individuals than for high-income individuals. However, the effect dissipates by 2015. Additionally, we observe a notable initial decrease in health satisfaction, followed by recovery, while financial satisfaction was largely unaffected.Work in Progress
Finite Pool of Worries and Climate Change Concerns
Resting Papers
The Environmental Effectiveness of a Carbon Tax: A Comparative Case study of the Nordic Experience
Earlier version - World Bank working paper series, Nov 2019 Download paper here